Please give us a brief introduction of yourself, the school you currently go to, and your major (area of study) in college.
I’m Ernie Hsieh, you might recognize me from when I was in DIS. I am currently attending UC San Diego (|/ |/ home of the Tritons! |/ |/) as an undeclared major.”
How does college life compare with your initial expectations of it?
Pretty much every single bit of my college life so far [has met] my initial expectations of it. I’m already blown away by… stuff that’s happening on campus!
What is the best part/worst part of college life?
The best part about college life is that you finally get to be the master of your own living. … You get to decide when you want to eat (skip meals or eat as late as 1AM, but don’t do this .., it’s super unhealthy in my opinion) when you want to sleep, and what to do on the weekends, etc. However, this also means you are responsible for yourself in a lot of ways. When you’re living on your own, it’s super important to maintain healthy mental AND physical lifestyles, because academics will be… demanding…
How has your high school education affected your life in college?
Personally, I think high school has been a training ground of persistence and self-motivation for me. These are super important things in college because the workload you face will test you to your limits every day. You may have the flexibility to design your own schedule and classes that you want to take, but it is ultimately your responsibility to keep track of whether or not you are graduating on time and satisfying the university requirements. All of this takes a lot of self-motivation and persistence.
What advice or word of encouragement would you like to give our current Dominican students regarding their preparation for college?
“Live every second you get in DIS and hang in there! Stop worrying about whether or not you’ll get 4.0s and a perfect SAT (or ACT) score to get admitted into prestigious universities, because wherever you go, you’ll …have a great time meeting new people and exploring the new environment.”
What’s a random fact about your school (eg. the best restaurants, school activity, myth, etc)?
- Fun fact #1: At the center of UCSD sits the Geisel Library, which is named after Doctor Seuss. The higher the floor you climb, the quieter it gets. (It is said that you can hear the particles in the air current flowing in between your ears on the top floor.)
- Fun fact #2: Although we are often nicknamed UC Socially Dead, …we are actually not as bad as you might think. We just don’t have a lot of … parties.
- Fun fact #3: We rule the UC system okay?… I mean our school mascot is a … deity. (Ruler of the sea, son of Poseidon, and Ariel’s dad of course ;))
